Excessive pesticide found in Japanese strawberries

TAIPEI--Shipments of fresh strawberries from Japan has been found to be tainted with excessive pesticide residues by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

The residues were found on three shipments of strawberries weighing a total of 43.2 kilograms brought in by three different importers.

All three shipments were from Japanese trading company Meiko Trading Co., and it was the third time fresh strawberries shipped by Meiko failed border checks, Feng Jun-lan, head of the FDA's Northern Center for Regional Administration, said Wednesday.

Because of the previous problems, measures have been taken to screen every batch of Meiko Trading's strawberries shipped to Taiwan, Feng said.

In addition to the strawberry issues, a shipment of 59 kg of fresh grapes imported from Meiko Trading also tested positive for excessive pesticide residues, according to the FDA.